Page 102 of Vow of the Undead
“Vampírkarl,” he said, his breath on the back of my neck as he propped the runestone on the shelf in front of me.
“Vampírkarl: The Undying Witch.” I traced the runes that followed, my eyes flitting from one piece of the text to the next, trying to absorb the entire saga at once. It spoke of a seer who prophesied the fall of her loved one in a combatcalled “Battle at Folkvangr’s Gate.” Though I struggled with the next few runes, I understood the basics. This witch trained as a warrior, perhaps a shieldmaiden, and then followed him into every battle, hoping that if she died in combat with him, they’d both be chosen to feast together in Valhalla.
“Lux,” King Drakkar said softly. He brushed a finger down the back of my arm.
When the witch saw her own afterlife was chosen by Freya for Folkvangr, she fought harder, trying to change this fate, hoping to be cut down by their enemies with a weapon still in her hand so that the Valkyries may deem her worthy to sit at Odin’s table. As her lover died, she witnessed a Valkyrie, becoming the only person to have ever seen one of the warrior women. She touched the bottom of the Valkyrie’s wings as the Valkyrie carried her lover to Valhalla.
“Lux.” His finger traced back up the line he’d drawn down my arm and his hand rubbed down my back. Slowly, he dragged his hand down my side until his fingers hooked around the bone at my hip. His grip grew firmer as he leaned his whole body into me.
My lips parted and my breath quickened as I deciphered the runes as fast as my mind could keep up. The witch vowed she would not succumb to death until she figured out how to thwart their eternal separation, and having touched the Valkyrie, she gained the power to take a soul. She could turn the near-dead into a state between living and death. Existing. Undead. Goosebumps prickled over my shoulders and down my chest.
She created the first vampire to siphon immortality from—as long as they fed on humans.
She chose a friend who’d fallen in battle, a man bleeding out from an abdominal wound. A man named Kayn.
A gasp escaped me and my hand flew to my mouth. The saga ended with a line about the first vampire set apart from the rest. This vampire created all the rest, robbing warriors, shieldmaidens, innocent humans of the afterlife they’d fought for.
The next rune called Kayn the “king of monsters.”
It explained that he could only be unmade by a stake from the tree of Yggdrasil, the tree that this runestone said was branded into his skin—the mark of the first witch. A mark that said he was created by her power, according to the history.
With my eyes fluttering, the runes blurred in front of me. This was the source of the guilt he spoke of. And now he wanted me to do what he couldn’t. He wanted me to wake, track, and eradicate all the monsters he’d created. I already knew this, but not the addition that sank my heart.
My eyes flew over the runestone, absorbing the last lines explaining that when the first witch made Kayn undead, he’d lost his soul—a soul he could never get back.
But it said that hecouldtake someone else’s soul as his own, if they unmade every monster he’d created.
Like he’d asked of me.
Like the Gods had asked of me, but Kayn had a vested interest. This wasn’t just about protection for the people of Midgard.
He didn’t care about humans. He didn’t care about me, only what he could get from me. If I followed through with this, he could take my damn soul.
Anger burned hot in the base of my belly.
Kayn was gambling with my entire existence, my afterlife.
“Lux,” King Drakkar demanded my attention as he grasped my arm and forced me to spin and face him. Shoving me back against the only smooth wall in the library, he seemed to enjoy pinning me against cold stone.
My back slammed against the stone and I couldn’t stop what came out of my mouth. “That hurts. Fuck!”
He tilted his head, a wild and hungry look glazing his icy eyes. “That’s exactly what I want to do.” I looked away, not giving him the satisfaction of my focus. “You seem to have forgotten our deal. You asked a question, and I answered.”
“No, I—” I snapped my mouth shut. I’d asked about the rune I did not know. Annoyed at the interruption, I quickly stretched my neck and pressed my lips against his.
When I cut the kiss short, his mouth twitched. “Oh no, my curious little killer got everything she could have asked for, now it is my turn. This room is full with as many answers as I can possibly give you. I did tell you, I’d give you every answer I can.”
“For a price.”
“If you want to look at it that way. Really, you’re the one benefitting.”
“Am I?”
He smiled wickedly. “You’ll see. I have a taste for you now.”
I should have retched, should have spit in his face, should have fought the monster pinning me to the wall. These were nearly the words Sten had threatened me with. Except King Drakkar’s words weren’t a threat, and for some reason, I wanted to know what he’d say next. Perhaps because he always said exactly what he wanted.
His grin held steady as his eyes searched my face. “You’ve been teasing me with these kisses.”
